Proton and ion beams generated with picosecond CO² laser pulses

1-TW, 6-ps, circularly polarized CO₂ laser pulses focused onto thin Al foils are used to drive ion acceleration. The spectra of ions and protons generated in the direction normal to the rear surface, detected with a compact magnet spectrometer with CR39, reveals a broad proton high-energy peak at ∼1 MeV. This observation conforms to the theoretical predictions that circularly polarized laser pulses are less efficient than linearly polarized pulses in driving ion acceleration via the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism. Instead, there is evidence that the circularly polarized laser may provide direct ponderomotive acceleration of ions and protons. We report also the first application of the BNL proton source in nano-science. Irradiation of graphite and graphene films produced local defects and membranes for variety of applications.